"Wha?" Judging from Lance's amused expression, I must look as confused as I feel right now.
"We're cousins," TC says. "My dad had a sister named Vanessa who passed a couple of years before he did, when I was like 10..." He glances away for a second. Guess that's as close as this guy gets to being emotional. He takes another sip of beer. "That's your mom, right?"
"Yeah... Wait, wha? You're my cousin?" The alcohol isn't helping me process this any faster.
Lance jumps in. "Guess the fast genes run in the family, huh?" he says, elbowing me. He chuckles to himself, indifferent to the fact that no one else seems to be amused.
"My dad was normal, as far as I know, but I guess the gene coulda been dormant," TC says. "Up till now I thought I was the only one in the family. Your mom wasn't a speedster, was she?"
"Actually, yeah she was, but she didn't realize it till she was like 30. That's how she met my dad. A guy called The Psyphon stole the powers from every speedster in Thunder City, and after my dad beat him they--"
"The Psyphon?" TC says, cutting me short. "What do you mean, your dad beat The Psyphon? The Swift beat The Psyphon, everyone knows that..." He puts down his beer and leans towards me. "Are you saying your dad is The Swift?!"
"Y-Yeah. He's retired now, though. Anyway, my dad beat the guy and..."
"Holy shit!" He interrupts me again, uncharacteristically excited. It's weird to see him like this. "The Swift is my uncle! How cool is that?"
"Pretty damn cool!" Lance yells. "You guys are lucky! My only famous relative is a guy who flashes people in New York."
"I'm The Swift's nephew. I still can't get over the fact that the guy turned out to be real! I used to read The Swift comics as a kid. Thrice-Man too, all those guys. And the meteor hammer guy too... what's his name? Hey, he's not related to us, is he?" TC enthusiastically asks.
"No, but he used to come over for dinner every once in a while..." I answer, to TC's delight. "I'm a little overwhelmed by this whole thing too, you know. I mean, my mom never mentioned that I had an uncle, much less a cousin. My dad never mentioned him either..."
"They never got along very well. After your mom's accident they just stopped talking, and then my dad..." TC has a somber expression. We're silent for a moment. It gives me time to think about what he's saying and reconcile it with what I thought I knew about my family... Everything makes sense.
TC continues. I think the beer's softening him up: "You know, man, that car crash was a terrible thing, but if our dads had been more mature they could have, I don't know, taken something positive out of it and leave their shit behind, you know? Now it's too late for that."
"Yeah... the 'car crash'..." I struggle with this for a moment, but I figure he deserves to know. After all, she was his aunt. "Actually, Tobias--"
Suddenly, we hear a loud thunder-like sound that stops every conversation in the party. We're all deaf for a couple of seconds.
"Was that... a burp?" Lance asks.
TC looks up to the place where the sound came from, the roof of one of the apartment blocks. "What the fuck is going on up there...?"
